The halfway point of the FedExCup Fall is near, with three events in the books and four yet to play.

The seven-event session is of utmost importance to a large chunk of the PGA TOUR who are without any status guarantees beyond the end of the season. Only the top 100 in the FedExCup Fall, down from 125 in previous years, will earn full status for 2026. That means it will be a stressful month ahead as everyone fights for positioning and their careers.

With an off-week ahead of next week’s Bank of Utah Championship, let’s take stock of the risers and fallers through the opening salvo of the FedExCup Fall and spin forward the stakes for the remaining four events.

Risers

Garrick Higgo – Higgo secured status for 2026 via his win at the Corales Puntacana Championship earlier this year, but his FedExCup Fall run is what has set up the South African to break through in a more meaningful way down the road.

Higgo has been the best golfer on TOUR through the three fall events. He finished in a tie for seventh at the Procore Championship, runner-up at the Sanderson Farms Championship and tied fourth at the Baycurrent Classic. In the process, Higgo jumped from 99th in the FedExCup to 57th – a notable distinction. Whomever finishes between Nos. 51-60 in the FedExCup Fall will earn entry into the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and The Genesis Invitational.

Higgo is the only golfer currently in the top-60 who wasn’t in the top-60 to start the FedExCup Fall. If Higgo can maintain his position, he could be primed for a similar breakthrough as Ludvig Åberg (2023) or Maverick McNealy (2024), who both parlayed a top-60 position into a career year the following season.

Steven Fisk – The man who bested Higgo at the Sanderson Farms gets the nod here. Fisk was well outside the top-100 bubble, 135th to be exact, before he earned his maiden victory at Jackson Country Club and vaulted all the way to 65th. While known superstars Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele won the other two fall events, Fisk represents the other side of the spectrum. The rookie had amassed just one other top-10 in 22 events before his career-changing victory. He’s taking advantage of the fall, just as it was intended.

Michael Thorbjornsen – The former world amateur No. 1 might be finally finding his comfort zone – and it’s come at the perfect time. Thorbjornsen finished T13 at the Procore Championship, then contended at last week’s Baycurrent Classic, finishing solo-third. The Stanford product moved from 88th to 72nd in the FedExCup in the process, securing his card for another year. Thorbjornsen had shown flashes of his elite talent since earning his TOUR card straight from college through PGA TOUR University – but hadn’t done it consistently enough. Yet he’s beginning to shed that rollercoaster label. Thorbjornsen has missed just one cut since April – a stretch that includes four top-five finishes. The fall has just proven to be an extension of that great play. With his card now secure for 2026, Thorbjornsen should be a popular candidate to make a leap – either with a win this fall or early next season.

Rico Hoey – The 30-year-old Filipino has become one of the most impressive ball-strikers on the PGA TOUR, but until this fall, he had little to show for it. Most of the blame fell on below-average putting, but ahead of the Procore Championship, Hoey switched to a long putter and the improvements could save his job.

Hoey finished T9 at the Procore and T4 at the Baycurrent with a missed cut sandwiched in between at the Sanderson Farms. That run of play pushed him to the other side of the all-important top-100 bubble, moving from 106th to 91st. Hoey isn’t completely safe with four events to play, but if this run of play continues, he will secure another year on TOUR and potentially a long-lasting solution on the greens.

Fallers

Joel Dahmen – It’s been a difficult start for Dahmen, who was hoping to avoid his second straight stressful fall.

Dahmen’s status came down to the last event, the RSM Classic, a year ago, before a series of heroics to make the cut, then contend put Dahmen on the right side of the bubble. This fall, he’s done the opposite, dropping from inside the top-100 to out of it. Dahmen began the fall at No. 93, but he missed the cut in his first two events and finished T69 in the 78-man, no-cut Baycurrent. Now, Dahmen is 103rd in the FedExCup Fall. Dahmen has missed the cut in nine of his last 14 events dating back to April.

Stephen Jaeger – With Higgo’s move into the top-60, Jaeger has the unfortunate distinction of being the only player inside the top-60 at the start of the fall that has fallen out. Jaeger has played just once this fall – a T44 finish at the Sanderson Farms – which has contributed to the decline, so it’s not as if the German’s game has fallen off. Still, if Jaeger doesn’t prioritize the rest of the fall schedule, he could find himself on the outside looking in at the first few Signature Events of 2026.

Tom Kim – By just looking at the FedExCup Fall standings, Kim doesn’t technically qualify as a faller. But he’s also not a riser, which is the crux of Kim’s concerns. The South Korean began the FedExCup at No. 94, and after three events, he’s still No. 94. Kim has played every event of the fall, though his only worthwhile finish was a T11 at the Sanderson Farms. Kim’s card is locked up through 2026, so he doesn’t have to worry about the top-100 bubble. But he expected to use the fall to make a push for the top-60. That has not happened yet. And when that is the goal, stagnating might as well be falling.